"Cal/West Seeds, for example, discovered that more than 12% of their seed lots tested positive for contamination [of GM alfalfa] in 2009, up from 3% in 2008."

Roundup persists in the environment and is accumulating in our bodies!

"The same nutrients that glyphosate chelates and deprives plants are also vital for human and animal health. These include iron, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, calcium, boron, and others. Deficiencies of these elements in our diets, alone or in combination, are known to interfere with vital enzyme systems and cause a long list of disorders and diseases.

Alzheimer's, for example, is linked with reduced copper and magnesium. Don Huber points out that this disease has jumped 9000% since 1990."

"What some people tend to forget is that genetic modification happens daily, with or without science. "

You're talking about sex, mutation and evolution. You seem to be suggesting that scientists have a model of life that is complex enough to justify claiming that what happens in nature and what happens in a lab are in fact identical, or at least functionally equivalent. Well, you go ahead and believe that. I see it as a weak attempt at propaganda pushed by the GM lobby for at least 10 years. Observing functional equivalence really depends on your perspective doesn't it?

Cory R., we've had master students in agri business and all sorts of sciences, and we still needed brave whistle-blowers to figure out the secrets covered up by the tobacco industries. Give me a break will ya.It's Monsanto we're discussing here for heavens sake, their very history shows a complete disregards for human life and a reputation of lying and covering up their evil business.

If you know Monstanto's history you shouldn't be "surprised" by the fact that their bs pesticides and GMO seeds cause major problems to human health.

The FDA in America is ruled by the same companies it "overlooks", so them keeping quite is business as usual. The same thing happened with Tobacco companies and look how that turned out, and they say WE are making the conspiracy theories.

The Amercain Science foundations are plagued by corruption and bent to the will of their sponsors. Do a search, see the countless men and women of science who have been threatened, "disappeared" or otherwise fired for having an opinion different than that of corporate interests.

Lone and unfunded Swedish scientists go out of their way to show the effects of GMO food on mice and how they degenerate, I encourage those of you who are skeptics to look at the real men of since going out solo because a corrupt private interest funded science industry refuses to support them and their stock-hurting opinions.

Surely if one farmer wants his neighbours to farm in a certain way so as to enhance the value of his crops (for example by making them organic) that is fine but he should pay them to compensate for any losses they then incur?

The rest of the story behind the issue of GMO alfalfa ?...(my understanding) is that large comercial alfalfa seed companies (3, maybe 4)sell withing the US... most small comercial growers rely on exporting seed. bees pollenate alfalfa to make seed, bees carry pollen from plant to plant AND field to field... GMO alfalfa's pollen will move with bees to non-gmo alfalfa seed fields. seed from these fields will test positive for gmo and the small seed growers will lose thier overseas market... end of small comercial alfalfa seed growers. AND monsanto ownes the gene in that pollen. what might they do if it shows up in your seed? is that the same as if your neighbors car shows up in your garage? .. this is not that big a problem with corn and soybeans. tney self pollenate and their pollen does not travel very farm.. GMO canola is bigger issue. mustard/canola plants resistant to round up are showing up in fields across the US grain belt, even thou we dont plant canaola in those states.... canola pollen is spread by insects, canola seed can be spread by birds, being very small, i can also leak from rail cars

It really is troubling how much of the American regulatory system becomes run by former employers or board members of the companies to be "regulated."

It seems like a reasonable compromise here though, but I'm curious about what the famers who choose not to grow GM foods think of this decision. I find the "ownership" of life, a really troubling concept. Thankfully it's not a Canadian one, yet.

Cory R. please google scientific studies on cancer and genetic modification. You will find plenty. There is a reason that countries, outside of the USA, ban GM crops. Please do not underestimate their intelligence and research for making such decisions.

The seeds don't blow in the wind--its even hard to seperate them in a 300hp combine. The pollen can move in the wind and the honey bees that pollinate the afalfa travel up to 6 miles in their foraging.

Cory R. : Thank you for reply, and your comments. I'm still thinking GMO are managed wrongly and in a too superficial manner. (studies and experiments) But I do understand why you think it's very attractive and potentially helpful for our world. It depends on how governments, companies, consumers use it.
I'm on exams right now for school so I can't really provide others arguments :) but I will keep studying the case, because nature is wonderful! Have a great experience with your master! But please, question authority :)

Arnaud Belgium- Well said. I do however disagree slightly with your point. Toxins do occur naturally within the food system (salmaonella, E-Coli, etc.). I don't know everything about nature, very far from it. But I do wonder if the benefits of GM crops, including things like enriched rice and corn, outweigh the potential costs like future diseases. I understand that there is no such thing as perfect foods or production methods. All forms of crop and food production have their risks. I do however believe that increased food production and foods with enriched vitamins and minerals have been able to be grown through GMO technologies. Also, GMO products aren't in their first decade of experimentation. The concepts were originally fostered more than 30 years ago. Monsanto, Cargill and others are selling 3rd and 4th generations of many of their seeds. I'm not arguing that this provides enough data to form a conclusion, but that GMOs have been around for a long time. It is just recently (in the last 15 years or so) been brought into the forefront of discussions with consumers.
I brought up Ronald Coase because this article was posted on the Economist's website. Coase theorem economics deals with both property rights and economic production, and seed cross pollination is actually a classic example used in agricultural economics classes.

Corey R. : Lack of GMO regulations means imposing it to everyone. Look at Mexico's corn : there is contamination in their genes. They have huge plants on their fields and it never happened (tradition has been there thousands of years ago)
Our footprint is growing all over the world. We do not have enough scientific experimentation to conclude that GMO are good or bad. But it is more likely to cause disruption to living organisms (Árpád Pusztai,Richard Lacey,) Or engineered food products (eg the Mad Cow) causes toxins in our organisms. This is not done by natural reproduction but just with a foreign genetic material... It's radically different !
Because we're using a more complex technology therefore we should be more cautious about it ! It is obvious ! The consequences are less predictable and more hidden because it is the first decade of experimentation. Look at your experience: do you really think that after a master in agribusiness you know everything about nature? Same thing for scientists : 10 or 20 years might not be enough. Let's be more wise, please!
2d: Ronald Coase... You're mixing two different levels : living things and money!
But the most outraging in this case is that we cannot reverse the genes mutations... Hopefully a built of frozen seeds has been done in Norway.
The developing world does not need us create drought/pesticides resistant seeds : They need good help and real learnings from reliable agriculture so that they do not risk their lives twice.

What some people tend to forget is that genetic modification happens daily, with or without science. Seeds blend, cross pollinate, etc on their own. Many weeds become resistant to herbicides on their own in the wild. GMO crops simply speed up this process to obtain higher returns for agriculturalists.

Octavian_: I would like to see your source on GMO products and cancer. I'm currently a masters student in agribusiness and have never seen one link of research that showed a causal effect between GMO products and cancer. It would be an interesting read for me.

Arnaud Belgium: It becomes a very sensitive subject to label food products GMO (in America, nearly everything would be labeled!) The problem lies with the disconnect between most consumers and food production. Many people still think of agriculture as farmer john with his pitchfork and small farm. The ideas of GMO, mass production, technology, etc don't cross the mind of the average food consumer. Research conducted on GMO labeling by one of my professors at the University of Florida was interesting. When consumers were asked, "Would you add any new information to food labels", GMO labeling was answered only 1-2% of the time. When the question was changed to "Should GMO labeling be included on food products", the answer yes increased to approximately 80%. GMO agriculture production isn't at the forefront of consumer choices currently in America. They are ignorant to the issue (which is in fault to agriculture marketing practices). I would vote against labeling GMO products simply because of the ignorance to GMO production methods would cause irrational consumer choice. Also, GM products don't have lower yields, or I have not read research concluding that hypothesis.

Finally, I think the discussion on seeds being blown from field to field and contaminating other farms is a perfect example of Coase Theorem economics! Ronald Coase just recently celebrated his 100th birthday, and I think he would be thrilled to read and solve a problem such as this one!

J' : They has been scientific studies for GM crops but by the Monsanto company itself. That does not guarantee me the food is safe. you can eat it if you want but don't make the whole world eating it and relying on it with a "Substantial equivalence" principle made up by the seller of the products. And why not labelling it as a GMO ? So we wouldn't argue and everyone would have a CHOICE. Don't forget that GM seeds do have a lower yield, make the developing world pay higher prices for it and thus disrupt their economies. You say organic food causes diseases? If you eat two pounds of organic corn, well you might not feel right but now imagine drinking 1 liter of Roundup ready... Desperate Indians committed suicide with this because they were the first to realize the effect on their lives.

Good article. Just one point of clarification: You wrote "Wind has an unfortunate tendency to blow GM seed into organic fields." Alfalfa grown for hay is harvested before it pollinates. It never produces seed. The risk of cross pollination with non-GM varieties is virtually nil.

There are scientists who also advocate links to health problem from organic crops. So condemning GM crops based on some data is no better than doing so for organic. It's difficult to find truly unbiased studies of either.

Exactly ! Look at Monsanto company past mistakes... Don't we learn from history? The PBC's caused diseases and disabled his own employees and villagers. However, Monsanto's scientists have always tested the chemicals so that it's entirely safe to use... Like Rondup of course. Like the Bovine growth hormone. Michael Taylor, Margaret Miller are certainly the right persons to put at the top of FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) since they worked with Monsanto! Thank you Mr Obama for choosing Mr Taylor ! Revolving doors ? Certainly.
But, eh ! This does not help globalisation and threaten economies around the world, at first, the farmers in US (sued to justice because they have been contaminated by GMO seeds) and secondly all the developing world (India, the suicide seeds).
Remember the case of Britain where "Substantial equivalence " has been proved false. Árpád Pusztai therefore lost his job too. What a great loss for the great nation of Great Britain. How bad this is for an economy if the product they're selling are not adequately tested and studied ?
In Canada, Monsanto tried to corrupt the government... Scientist have been fired.
Monsanto's company keep growing and contaminates the world physically and morally (with it's seeds and it's corruption or lobbyism)
If Scientist can't raise against him then Economist should.

What don't talk about is links between GM and cancer + other strange genetic mutation disorders. They don't talk about the scientists whose careers are threatened by their "scientific organizations" if they dare speak out against this crap.

You take a gene from an animal, you put it in a fruit. Is the result a fruit or animal?

Playing god with such a new technology and changing things which mother nature took billions of years to develop is our indication that greed and corruption in the business and political class has gone too far.

Plus, once made, wind spreads the seeds, bees pollinate the flowers, and in time all other normal plants will become corrupted with the perverted DNA. Plants which of course are arguably very dangerous to our health, produce no seeds, and can only be bought from Monsanto which has a patent.